Hi there! My name is Angela Pope, my friends usually call me Pope, so feel free to do so too. I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and I moved to Florida when I was kid. My dad is Canadian, from Summerside in Prince Edward Island, and my mom's from Vietnam. They both somehow wound up in the States at the exact same time and met each other, and now I'm in Vancouver. Crazy right?
Some facts about me: I'm a second year student at UBC, focusing mainly on history and gender and sexuality studies. I'm also really into photography and cinematography so I spend a lot of my free time taking photos of things I think are nice. When I'm not doing that, or drowning in articles for class, I'm pretty big into literature, so if you ever want to discuss classic novels or poets, I'm your girl. I'm also terrible with directions and maps — I've been in Vancouver for a little over a year and a half now and I'm just finally getting an understanding of the public transport system.
I'm taking this course because I've always been fascinated with any aspect of the world that didn't have anything to do with Canadian or American history. So much of what I've read on Latin America in the news, books, tv shows, etc. have mainly focused on the sensationalistic topics, and I really wanted to expand my knowledge. And I also think it's a good idea to be well-rounded, and know a few things here and there about other cultures, histories, and people. So that's what I'm doing in Latin Studies.
Monday, 19 September 2016
Week 2: Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain?
It's really interesting to read Columbus' own writings and obtain a real look into the way he thought of himself and the King and Queen of Spain. I mean in the first few sentences, it's so hilariously clear how much sucking up Columbus has to do to appease the royalty of the Spanish Court — he used the phrase "your majesties" at least five times within one paragraph. I know... it's a small detail, and I'm not trying to nit pick, I understand that at the time Spanish royalty were heralded as the most sacred beings... but it doesn't mean it's not funny to see brown nosing was not a new concept in the 1500's.
However, reading his journal does make me sad, it's clear that Columbus never had any decent or good intentions when exploring the Americas. I mean on the first day he met the indigenous Native Americans he wrote in his journal that one of his immediate thoughts was how easy it would be to subjugate and enslave them. A few days later he notes to the King and Queen that all they would need to dominate the entire island is 50 men. Even with the gifts, kindness and love the indigenous people showed him, he was still trying to find ways to manipulate them and exploit them. Throughout the journal he doesn't explicitly say that he thinks the people are naive or stupid, but with almost every sentence he implies it, it was almost as if he was constantly mocking them.
I know there's a tendency to cast people as heroes or villains, and I vacillate between throwing people into those boxes and trying to understand the complexities. But for a man like Columbus I find it really difficult to not cast him as a villain because he did terrible acts; he can literally be traced as the first man to start the genocide and subjugation of millions of Native Americans.. How do you find a hero in that, not even, how do you find a single redeeming quality? Nobody ever thinks about Hitler and recalls fond memories of him, why shouldn't I offer Columbus the same treatment? His actions leave punishing consequences even in the present day. I'm aware that it's complex, the time he grew up in, the ideologies that were instilled, etc., but I don't think you can excuse it and frame him in any way other than the classic villain.
Some questions I had while reading his journal:
1) Does creating the narrative of Columbus as a conqueror and the Natives as vulnerable pure people who were taken advantage of rob the Natives of their agency and power? Or does it create good meaningful conversation?
2) Do you think if the indigenous population had attacked Columbus and his men, would they have won? Or would they have lost? And how would that change the narrative of what we've been taught today?
3) A lot of people pose the theory that if not Columbus who discovered the indigenous people and the "Americas" someone else would have and they would have killed the entire indigenous population, do you think that's true? Would history have unraveled the same way it had with a conquerer and a conquered or could there have been relative peace throughout the territories and mutual respect?
However, reading his journal does make me sad, it's clear that Columbus never had any decent or good intentions when exploring the Americas. I mean on the first day he met the indigenous Native Americans he wrote in his journal that one of his immediate thoughts was how easy it would be to subjugate and enslave them. A few days later he notes to the King and Queen that all they would need to dominate the entire island is 50 men. Even with the gifts, kindness and love the indigenous people showed him, he was still trying to find ways to manipulate them and exploit them. Throughout the journal he doesn't explicitly say that he thinks the people are naive or stupid, but with almost every sentence he implies it, it was almost as if he was constantly mocking them.
I know there's a tendency to cast people as heroes or villains, and I vacillate between throwing people into those boxes and trying to understand the complexities. But for a man like Columbus I find it really difficult to not cast him as a villain because he did terrible acts; he can literally be traced as the first man to start the genocide and subjugation of millions of Native Americans.. How do you find a hero in that, not even, how do you find a single redeeming quality? Nobody ever thinks about Hitler and recalls fond memories of him, why shouldn't I offer Columbus the same treatment? His actions leave punishing consequences even in the present day. I'm aware that it's complex, the time he grew up in, the ideologies that were instilled, etc., but I don't think you can excuse it and frame him in any way other than the classic villain.
Some questions I had while reading his journal:
1) Does creating the narrative of Columbus as a conqueror and the Natives as vulnerable pure people who were taken advantage of rob the Natives of their agency and power? Or does it create good meaningful conversation?
2) Do you think if the indigenous population had attacked Columbus and his men, would they have won? Or would they have lost? And how would that change the narrative of what we've been taught today?
3) A lot of people pose the theory that if not Columbus who discovered the indigenous people and the "Americas" someone else would have and they would have killed the entire indigenous population, do you think that's true? Would history have unraveled the same way it had with a conquerer and a conquered or could there have been relative peace throughout the territories and mutual respect?
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